


Pitter and Patter

by AHappyPup



Series: Age Gap AUs [3]
Category: Frozen (Disney Movies)
Genre: Big/Little Ice Bros AU, Gen, Mental Health Issues, Therapy, child psychotherapy techniques, i use my bachelors for some good
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-21
Updated: 2019-12-21
Packaged: 2021-02-18 08:33:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21891241
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AHappyPup/pseuds/AHappyPup
Summary: Anna knows her sister has always had trouble with her emotions. But this is the third time the school has called her this month to pick her up crying. They had to do something.
Relationships: Anna & Elsa (Disney), Anna/Kristoff (Disney)
Series: Age Gap AUs [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1620439
Comments: 22
Kudos: 102





	Pitter and Patter

“Miss Arendelle, I’m glad you were able to make it. She’s back here, lying down.”

Anna was flustered rushing into the elementary school office. Getting off her shift early was a nightmare, but Elsa needed her. She wasn’t about to leave her seven-year-old sister alone at school- not this time.

This was the third time this month Anna had received a call saying her baby sister was inconsolable at school. The other two times, Anna hadn’t been able to make it due to flight schedules. It was difficult to get to her little sister when she was literally on the other side of the Earth. But enough finagling with other workers allowed Anna to be there for her sister just before noon.

“Thank you.” Anna nodded, eyes darting to the small nurse’s office towards the back. “Her teacher said nothing in particular happened? She just started crying and hasn’t stopped?”

The secretary nodded back at her. “We had the counselor go in and talk with her a bit, but it didn’t seem to do much to comfort her. If you don’t mind, can we give you her phone number? There are some more things she’d like to discuss with you, but our first priority is Elsa.”

Anna nodded again. “Of course. Can I go back now?” The secretary quickly moved aside, allowing Anna in.

“Elsa?”

The little girl was lying down curled up with a soft cotton blanket. Her face was covered up, but Anna could tell by her body language that she was still crying. “Anna?” Elsa wiped at her eyes before bursting into sobs. Anna immediately sat on the plastic bed, opening her arms to her little sister. 

“Come here. It’s alright. I’ve got you, Elsie. I’ve got you...”

\---

“What are we gonna do, Kris?”

Anna laid curled up in Kristoff’s arms that night, her own mind going a mile a minute. Today had been hard on all three of them: Elsa, filled to the brink with emotions that she just couldn’t understand; Anna, trying to give the best comfort she could; and Kristoff, keeping everything else going while Anna took care of Elsa. Eventually, Elsa had worn herself out crying, while Anna’s heart ached as she put her baby sister to bed. 

Soon after, Anna had taken it on herself to calling the school counselor. Apparently, these fits of crying had been more frequent than Anna had been aware of. Not only that, but Elsa had been closing herself off more to the other students barely talking to anyone- only wanting to sit in the corner and play by herself. 

As they talked, Anna could find herself remembering more and more instances of her sister’s distressed mood. Elsa had always been a bit shy, but like the counselor had said, she wasn’t interacting with much of anyone other than her and Kristoff. Any offers to go play with her friends were dismissed, and the poor girl seemed to have an overall nervous expression all the time now. Something similar had happened when Mama and Papa died a few years back, but they had chalked that up to grief.

How could she have missed this?

Kristoff held her close, giving her a tight squeeze. “We help her the best we can. We fill out those forms they sent you. We talk with her, let her know we’re there no matter what this doctor has to say.”

Anna sighed, trying to feel comfort in his embrace. “But what if they say there is something wrong? What if we can’t help her? I feel so- so- so useless!” she cried. 

He shook his head. “You aren’t useless. You’re doing the best you can. If there’s something wrong, then there’s something we can do about it. We’ll take care of her, I promise.”

Anna couldn’t say anything in response; she simply cried in Kristoff’s arms, hoping for the best.

“Sissy?”

Quickly, Anna tried to regain her composure. She wiped at her eyes and put on a smile. Her little sister was standing in the doorway, her own eyes red and weepy. She needed to put her own fears aside for a minute. “Elsa, sweetie, what are you doing up?” she asked, getting out of bed and down to her sister’s level. 

“There’s something wrong with me isn’t there?” she asked tearfully. “I know I cry too much and get scared easy and I try to stop, but I can’t- I can’t help it,” Elsa hiccupped, tears flowing freely now. 

Anna pulled her sister into a tight hug. “Oh, Elsa. No, no, no.” Her baby sister was hurting, but there wasn’t a damn thing she could do about it right now other than comfort her. 

At Anna’s embrace, Elsa only cried harder. “I’m sorry, I’m so-sorry.”

Anna shook her head, pulling away to look at Elsa. “You don’t have to be sorry, sweetie. You haven’t done anything wrong, I promise.”

“But- but Ms. Adams had to call you from work and you had to come get me because I was being a baby and- and- and-”

“Shhh, shhh,” Anna soothed. “There’s nothing wrong with you, Elsa. Sometimes people are just more sensitive to things than others. That’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

Elsa didn’t say anything at that, instead curling into Anna’s embrace crying. Anna was trying her best, but it just wasn’t enough right now. She never felt so useless.

\---

“Elsa?”

Elsa’s eyes widened. Her mind couldn’t focus on what the psychologist was saying to her. She didn’t want to be here in the first place, but Anna and Kristoff said it would help. And if Anna wanted her to do it, she would.

“Yes, ma’am?” she asked shyly.

“Do you think you could play a game with me, honey?” the psychologist asked, trying to keep things light and comfortable.

Elsa bit her lip nervously. A game couldn’t be too bad could it? "Okay," she said, timid.

The psychologist smiled and went over to a toy box. "Great! Now, Elsa, what's your favorite animal?"

Hmmmm, that was a hard one, Elsa had thought. There were lots of good animals out there, but if she had to decide...

"Penguins!" she said, an excited smile.

The psychologist gave her another smile. "I think we can manage that." She dug through the box for a minute and pulled out a penguin puppet. "Now, who do you think would be a good buddy for our penguin?" she asked, giving Elsa reign to the toy box.

Elsa looked around a few minutes. There were so many options: little puppy dogs, kittens, ponies, fish, even a squirrel! But the one that really captured her attention was the polar bear. "That one!"

"They do seem like they'd be good friends don't they?" she asked, putting the puppets on her hands. "This is Pitter and this is Patter. And we're going to let them play together, sound okay?"

Elsa nodded. This didn't seem too bad so far.

"Now, Pitter and Patter are going to say some things and I want you to tell me what sounds more like you. Is that okay?"

That seemed a little more nerve wracking to Elsa. What if she gave the wrong answers? And they took her away from Anna and Kristoff? The smile faded from her face, biting her lip instead.

"Elsa, it's okay if you don't want to do this. We can play a different game if you want."

Elsa shook her head. She wanted to be good. She wanted to do what was asked of her, even though it was scary. "I- I can do it."

The psychologist nodded at her. "If it gets too much, we can stop at any time okay? I won't be mad. I promise."

Elsa bit her lip again, looking up. "Okay."

The psychologist held up the puppets and began acting for them. She held up Pitter the Penguin. "I love going swimming in the cold water! It's lots of fun!" she said in a goofy voice. She then turned to her other hand and acted for Patter the Polar Bear. "I like playing in the snow more! There's lots of fun things there!"

Elsa thought for a second. Swimming was fun, but playing in the snow was much better. She and Anna and Kristoff made the biggest snowmen together. It was taller than she was! "Patter!" 

The psychologist held up the animals again. "I love playing with my brother and sister!" she said holding up Pitter. "I prefer to play by myself," she said holding up Patter.

This one was a little harder. She loved playing with Anna and Kristoff, but if they weren't around, she had trouble playing with other kids. "What if I'm a little bit of both?"

"That's okay," she replied. "Just say which one feels more like you."

Elsa thought again for a bit. She definitely loved playing with Anna and Kristoff more than playing by herself. "Pitter!"

The psychologist nodded once again before holding up the animals once more. "I get tummy aches a lot," Pitter said, the little puppet holding onto his middle. "I don't get a lot of tummy aches!" Patter said.

Elsa bit her lip. She didn't want anyone to know about her tummy aches. But Anna had told her how important it was to be honest with the psychologist. "Pitter," she said softly. 

The tone of the psychologist seemed to change. Had she said something wrong? She shouldn't have said something about her tummy. She was bad. She was doing this all wrong. Why couldn't she do this for Anna? Tears started falling from her eyes. She just wanted to go home and snuggle and-

"Elsa."

The soft voice of the psychologist pulled her out of her head. 

"You're okay. You're safe. We don't have to play this game anymore okay? Remember, you have control."

Elsa sobbed harder and found herself running into the psychologist for a hug. She couldn't do this.

"Elsa, honey, can you match your breathing to mine?"

Hiccuping and crying, she tried, but breathing was still really hard.

"You're doing great. Just keep breathing okay?"

Elsa nodded, trying her best. 

A long while later, Elsa's breathing was under control and her tears had slowed. The psychologist pulled back in order to look at her. "Can you tell me what that felt like?" she asked softly.

She nodded, moving from the hug. "It felt like my heart was fluttering and my head hurt and I couldn't think. It felt like I couldn't remember how to breathe. It's really scary when it happens."

"I bet," the psychologist said. "Did you know there's a name for what just happened?"

Elsa shook her head. "It doesn't just happen to me?"

"Nope," she said. "You had what's called an anxiety attack. It happens to a lot of kids, just like you."

"Really?" she asked full of wonder. This happened to others? She had never seen any of the other kids have the troubles she did 

"Uh huh. But do you want to know the best thing?"

"What's that?" She didn't think there could be any best thing about this situation.

"There's things that we can do to make them less scarier and ready for them."

"You mean we can't get rid of them?" Elsa asked sadly.

"Well, some kids do grow out of them. But in the meantime, there are things we can do to help you deal with them."

Elsa nodded. "Will you teach me, Miss Julie?"

"Absolutely."

\---

"Anna?"

Several days later, Elsa walked timidly into the kitchen where Anna was working on some bills. She still felt bad bothering her sister, but she didn't know if she could do this by herself.

"Hi, snowflake," Anna said, looking up from the table. "What's up?"

"My- my heart feels fluttery. Will you do the belly breaths with me?"

Anna turned, opening her lap up for Elsa. "Absolutely." She was still nervous about doing this right, but it made her sister feel better. And that was far more important than her insecurities. 

Elsa clambered in, putting her head against Anna's chest. "And we breathe in for 1, 2, 3, 4. Hold it in your belly for..."

Anna counted slowly and felt Elsa's tense shoulders relax. It wasn't perfect, but they had come long way. And for that, Anna was grateful.

**Author's Note:**

> I would like to note that I am an experimental psychologist rather than a clinical psychologist, though my undergraduate degree had a large focus of clinical classes. The Pitter/Patter game used in this fic come from one of my old advisors (a child psychotherapist) and was passed on from my child psychopathology and child psychotherapy classes. Please seek out help if you or someone you know has difficulty with mental health. I am not a clinician, but I can help direct people to those who are.
> 
> Love you all and have a great day!


End file.
